Prolonged camp confinement erases the mental distinction between inmates and guards

Evidence

Rousset’s book contains many such “insights” into human “nature,” based chiefly on the observation that after a while the mentality of the inmates is scarcely distinguishable from that of the camp guards. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2819

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Milgram/Zimbardo-style claims about situational erasure of moral boundaries, and to Arendt’s later discussion of the indistinguishability of victims and perpetrators.